


Give me your attention, baby!

by ANTchan



Series: Doo-Wops & Hooligans [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dorks in Love, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16216352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANTchan/pseuds/ANTchan
Summary: “My friend and I are starting an initiative with other students, you know. To help people move in,” the stranger continues, unperturbed by Bodhi’s reaction. “We’re calling it ‘College Hunks Hauling Junk,’ only attractive, single men to--”“Um.”“Kay, shut up!”Bodhi's just trying to get through day one of attending Alliance University, that's all. Can't anything go to plan?For the Rogue One discord monthly prompt - Back to School Again!





	Give me your attention, baby!

**Author's Note:**

> Only slightly outside of the month of September, this was for September's Back to School prompt on the Rogue One discord! A perfect excuse to play with this cute little au again. This is a prequel to [Hot Damn!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15750585) Jumping aaaaaalll the way back to when Bodhi and Cassian met. And they're just as cute and awkward as before~

\--------------------1---------------------

Being “the new kid,” Bodhi finds rather quickly, sucks just as much in college as it did in high school. Coming in as a transfer student in his second year shouldn’t make him a novelty. Bodhi knows plenty of students come and go every year. And yet upon the realization that Bodhi Is New Here, his roommate quickly proclaimed himself Bodhi’s guide to all things Alliance U.

Bodhi hasn’t even been here long enough to finish moving things up to his dorm.

Don’t get him wrong. His roommate is a sweet, pretty blonde by the name of Luke Skywalker (his father’s family were and still are hippy farmers, he explains easily at Bodhi’s amused look). He’s been nothing but welcoming in the… hour that Bodhi has known him. Luke had even offered to help him get this belongings unpacked, with a look so kind and earnest that Bodhi is nearly uncomfortable.

He doesn’t know what to do about a roommate who’s actually… friendly. Almost _too_ friendly.

Luke had proceeded chatter at him, giving Bodhi a dizzying breakdown of the campus layout, the easiest way to get to his class buildings, and had promised to show him all of the best places in Alliance’s surrounding campus town. He’d been invited, no less than three times, to hang out with Luke’s group of friends. It’s something Bodhi _does_ appreciate, but mostly just finds himself overwhelmed.

Around the time that Luke starts trying to introduce him to their dorm neighbors, Bodhi makes some quick excuses to slip away.

He knows it would be good for him, to take his exceedingly helpful new roommate up on his (numerous) offers and make quick and easy acquaintances with those around him. Making new friends would go a long way to helping Bodhi not feel like an outsider on campus, something he had failed miserably to do at his last university. Coruscanti Prep had seemed to go out of its way to make Bodhi painfully aware of how little he fit in.

(He doubts he’ll fit in here any better, when it all comes down to it. Bodhi doubts he’ll fit in anywhere.)

By the time he’s gathered the last overpacked box from his beat up old truck, Bodhi’s thoughts have turned stormy. He slams the door with more force than he intends, hefting the box into his arms. He can't help but agonize over the whole thing; can’t help how it makes his chest ache and his hands shake as he clenches them around the sides of the box. He had uprooted his life and crossed several state lines looking for a change. He’s even farther away from home than he was when he started. Will this even be worth it in the end?

Maybe he'll beg off getting the tour from Luke and just go hide in his dorm room until the anxiety passes. And if his footsteps are just a little slower on the way back towards the dorm, then that's no one's problem but his own.

“ _Watch it!_ ”

Bodhi has barely any time to react as someone barrels past him on a longboard. The already heavy box in his hands goes tumbling to the sidewalk, and Bodhi only narrowly escapes getting knocked into by a second unmistakeable frat boy, on a longboard by stumbling back off the sidewalk. Of course, neither of them even look back, let alone apologize for nearly sending him crashing to the pavement.

As they dart down the sidewalk out of his line of sight, Bodhi looks mournfully at the overturned box, with his things spilling out over the ground. He sighs deeply, rubbing a hand self-consciously along his arm, and kneels down to gather everything back up again.

“Excuse me, it looks like you need help.” A shadow falls over him, and Bodhi looks up, and up, and _up_. The young man standing over him is impossibly tall, broad shoulders and lanky, almost gangly limbs. His friendly smile is a flash of white teeth, showing off dimples in his dark skin. And his smile is handsome, even charming, but the devious spark in his eye gives Bodhi pause.

“Um,” he mutters intelligently.

“My friend and I are starting an initiative with other students, you know. To help people move in,” the stranger continues, unperturbed by Bodhi’s reaction. “We’re calling it ‘College Hunks Hauling Junk,’ only attractive, _single_ men to--”

“ _Um._ ”

“Kay, _shut up!”_ A second stranger swoops in, shoving at the first’s shoulder. The aptly named Kay laughs sharply, barely even swaying as a shorter man continues to shove at him.

“That’s what Solo’s calling it!” Kay exclaims. “You don’t like it, take that up with him.”

“I know _exactly_ what you’re doing, asshole! Can’t you mind your own--”

Bodhi watches the men squabble above him, confounded by the spectacle. The second man is a full head shorter than his… friend? From his spot on the sidewalk Bodhi can only see the line of his shoulders and back as he tries to shove Kay backwards.

He’s… not quite sure what’s happening here.

“I’m just… going to go,” Bodhi says slowly. He starts trying to gather up his things once more, only for the commotion above him to go quiet. There’s some quick furtive muttering, and what Bodhi thinks might be some offensive hand gestures. He glances up in time to see the mysterious Kay retreat, a crooked grin on his face.

The remaining stranger glares after his friend for a few seconds. Bodhi wonders if he should be trying to grab his belongings as quickly as possible. But instead, the man sighs heavily, and turns to look at Bodhi.

And Bodhi’s heart immediately leaps into his throat, because the man is _beautiful_. His eyes quickly trace over the angle of his sharp cheekbones and the strong line of his jaw, darting to meet the intense brown eyes that seem to be looking straight into Bodhi’s _soul_ , and quickly away again.

Had he noticed Bodhi _clearly_ checking him out? There’s no way he couldn’t have, and the thought makes Bodhi’s face burn hot.

The second thing he notices (or the third or the _fifth_ , depending on if he should be counting each detail of the man’s beauty) is that he looks incredibly _young_. If not for the faded Alliance U t-shirt, Bodhi would think he’s a high schooler that’s come to help his older sibling move in.

“I’m sorry about… them,” the young man, assumedly a freshman, says, and for the first time Bodhi actually pays attention to his voice. How quiet and soothing it is, not quite as deep as Bodhi’s own, how his accent curls his words. He’s so entranced by it that he doesn’t answer at all, doesn’t even realize the other man is waiting for him to say something. “And I’m sorry about Kay. He’s an idiot. Do you… would you like some help?”

“Oh!” Bodhi gasps. “No, that’s…” His protest fades away as the handsome young man kneels across from him, righting the fallen box and helping scoop up his things. “Um. Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble.” The man clears his throat, and Bodhi tries not to make his staring obvious in the few seconds of silence. For a sorrowful moment Bodhi thinks that this is going to be it, he’s going to run into this beautiful stranger on his first day on campus and it’ll just be a polite exchange. A stranger helping a newcomer. And then the man glances hesitantly up at him. “Ah, my name’s Cassian.”

It takes everything he has not to stammer. “I’m Bodhi.”

“Nice to meet you, ah, I guess. I don’t think you would’ve wanted to meet like this. Getting harassed by my friend.”

“N-No, it’s… fine. He was just trying to be funny, I guess?”

A wry look passes over Cassian’s face. “Yeah, he thinks he’s hilarious.” By his tone, Bodhi isn’t quite sure that he’s thinking about Kay’s strange introduction. But Cassian doesn’t elaborate. Instead he frowns thoughtfully, and after a long pause continues with: “I don’t think I’ve seen you around campus before.”

“I just transferred,” Bodhi replies, hiding his wince. The new guy, yet again.

“Oh. Sorry that this was your welcome to Alliance. I promise it’s better than this.”

Bodhi quickly shakes his head. “It’s been fine so far, uh, douchebags not included. My roommate is really nice. Even offered to show me around. A-And _you’re_ pretty nice too.” The moment the words are out of his mouth, Bodhi wants to die in utter mortification. _Pretty nice._ God, he sounds like moron.

But when he dares to look up again, Cassian isn’t watching him strangely. His smile is bashful, a pleased little thing that has Bodhi’s heart leaping up into his throat.

If he had anything resembling flirtatious skill, Bodhi could come up with something suitably coy about the aforementioned _College Hunks Hauling Junk_.

 _‘Oh geez,’_ is all his mind can come up with.

By now all of his things have been piled back into the box and Bodhi can't find any discernible reason to stay kneeling on the sidewalk. He clears his throat for lack of anything else to say, and stands back up, his slightly crumpled box in hand. “Um, thank you,” he says weakly. And while he can’t manage to get something flirtatious to unstick from his throat, he can be sincere. “You, uh, you made my day a lot better.”

Cassian fidgets, shrugging bashfully. “I didn’t do much.”

“It was enough for me.” Feeling equally flustered by his earnest words, Bodhi shuffles the box in his hands. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too. Uh, if you ever need help again, I’m in MonCal Hall.” Cassian takes a step back, but seems to hesitate for a breathless moment before finally turning away. “Welcome to Alliance, Bodhi!” he says as he rushes off.

Bodhi watches him go and, for the first time all day, thinks that he’s truly at the start of something good.

\--------------------2---------------------

8 AM classes are creations of _torture_ thought up by particularly sadistic college deans and no one can convince Cassian otherwise. He slumps heavily into an open seat in the lecture hall, knocking back his energy drink like he’s at one of Solo’s parties. There’s another one in his bag, and he’s highly considering just downing the one in his hand and half of the next before class even starts.

Not even their professor looks awake yet, Dr. Mace Windu viciously suppressing yawns and clutching his coffee like a lifeline.

Allergies to morning besides, Cassian knows there’s another reason that he’s so tired. And it has nothing to do with the parties that have been raging around campus between move-in day and the first day of class. Even though Cassian has attended most of them in vague, _pathetic_ attempts at running into... someone.

It’s been three days, and Cassian hasn’t seen Bodhi again.

Kay had called his efforts the sign of a desperate man, among other unflattering things. (The word _stalker-y_ had been used more than once, and just remembering it makes Cassian wince.) But he’d tried everything. He’d tried waiting in hopes that Bodhi would take him up on the offer to come see him. He’d tried going to parties. He’d tried checking Facebook for any Bodhi’s that might go to Alliance U. And that’s when Kay put his foot down. Because Cassian was at the end of his rope, just short of simply wandering campus until something happened.

Even _thinking it_ sounds desperate and weird. Cassian cringes, and takes another swig of his energy drink.

There’s a _fwump_ as someone drops into the seat next to him. Cassian instinctively nudges his bag further under his seat, shifting to make sure there’s room. At the head of the lecture hall, Dr. Windu is gathering his notes, preparing to start the class. Cassian blames that, and his scramble to get his things in order, for not even looking at the person beside him for several minutes.

When he does, he barely keeps back a yelp.

Because it’s _Bodhi._

Bodhi is slumped against the table, his large, impossibly expressive eyes sleepy and glazed. He’s barely any more awake than Cassian is… _was_ , before the realization that Bodhi was _sitting beside him in class_. His hair has been pulled back into a haphazard bun, and his hoodie is still lopsided from having thrown it on in a hurry. But he’s still _gorgeous_ , and being confronted with him makes butterflies explode in Cassian’s stomach all over again.

_‘Think of something, you idiot! Don’t just stare at him!’_

But the words have frozen in Cassian’s mouth. His mind has gone dangerously blank, and it’s only after several moments that he even managers to tear his eyes away from Bodhi at all. With a lack of suitable (charming) greeting, he hopes that Bodhi will notice him and bridge the gap of awkward silence. But Bodhi’s eyes are trained fuzzily on Dr. Windu at the front of the class, visibly struggling to concentrate on what’s being said.

He’s sitting barely a foot from Cassian _and Cassian has no idea how to talk to him._

This, he thinks bitterly, is why Kay had gone storming up to Bodhi in the first place. After repeated attempts to go get Cassian to _talk_ to the other boy every time Bodhi had come back down into the parking lot for his things.

_“There’s your chance!” Kay had nudged him after those douchebags had nearly knocked Bodhi over. “Go offer to help him. Ask for his name, at least.” Only to sigh when Cassian continued to drag his feet, and take matters into his own hands._

But Kay isn’t here now to save him from his own pathetic hesitation. And each passing minute that he _doesn’t_ come up with something to say only makes the nerves worse, until he’s a jittery mess, his leg bouncing under the table.

Maybe he shouldn’t have had that energy drink.

To make matters worse, this seems to be the thing that draws Bodhi out of his exhausted trance. Bodhi’s face screws up in annoyance, until he finally looks over.

“Hey, could you sto-- Cassian?!” he hisses.

Despite his cool smile, Cassian can feel his face growing hot. “Hey. Nice to see you again.”

“You-- I-- what?”

Yeah, Cassian can relate to that one. “How have things been?” he says lowly, leaning a little closer. “You haven’t had any more trouble, have you?”

“No, no, nothing like that. My roommate is almost too nice, and has done everything to try and make me feel at home.” Bodhi worries his lip with his teeth, and Cassian tries so hard not to track the movement. He nearly misses Bodhi’s next question.

“What are you doing in a mechanical engineering class? I didn’t think they offered this to freshmen.”

“Fre--” _Now_ he’s definitely blushing. “I’m not a freshman,” he sighs.

“You’re not?” the note of disbelief in Bodhi’s voice only makes it worse.

“I’m _twenty._ ” He sighs at the clearly confused expression on Bodhi’s face. “I can’t help it if I have a baby face--”

“Is there something more important going on than my class, gentlemen?”

Both of them flinch as Dr. Windu’s voice takes on a sharp edge, rising to reach them in the middle of the lecture hall. It’s only then that Cassian notices that the other students, though still half asleep, have gone perfectly still. And Dr. Windu is watching them with a patiently dispassionate expression.

“No, no, uh, no, sorry,” they mumble discordently. They duck their heads shamefully, trying to look intent on their very blank notebooks. They don’t dare look up again until Dr. Windu has resumed his lecture.

“Do you…” Cassian whispers, and almost chickens out. “Do you want to talk after class? There’s this place up the block that has the best bagels in town: NiJedha Bagel & Deli?”

Bodhi’s head tilts subtly towards him, a soft smile curling his mouth. It’s so sweet and beautiful that Cassian has to look away to avoid saying something stupid about how pretty he is.

“I’d like that,” Bodhi whispers back.

All Cassian can do is nod, warmth blooming in his chest. He flashes a smile in Bodhi’s direction, before ducking his head when Dr. Windu’s gaze swings back towards them.

For the first time in days, Cassian is filled with excitement and _hope_.

Maybe this is going to work out after all.

**OR IS IT? END.**


End file.
